Obama Panders To Big Labor On Workers Memorial Day

Demagoguery: President Obama blew another dog whistle to Big Labor this week with his proclamation of "Workers Memorial Day" a renewed effort to demonize business and replace it with bigger government.

Coming just before the communist international May Day, "Workers Memorial Day" was a 1984 invention of Canada's public employee unions to promote unionization by politicizing the death of anyone killed in a workplace accident no matter what the cause, making business the bad guy.

Obama moved right into the character of this on April 27, issuing a far more militant declaration on behalf of unions and big government on Workers Memorial Day than he has in the past:

"At the turn of the 20th century, laborers faced hazardous conditions. Factory doors were locked from the outside, which prevented quick evacuation in emergencies. A combination of shoddy equipment and fatigue from long shifts made serious injury and death all too common. Career-ending injuries often led to poverty and starvation. From mine shafts to railroads to factory floors, workers began to speak out," he said.

This is odd stuff, given that workplace accidents have plunged since the era of the Model T. As Obama pushed the harsh details of the past as today's reality, the United Auto Workers in Grand Rapids, Mich. honored its fallen worker for the Workers Memorial Day, and only managed to find a state employee who was killed in a road rage incident on the way to work.

Fact is, workplace accidents, by the Department of Labor's own reckoning, have fallen to about 12 incidents a day and, as the Michigan example shows, it's not systematic. Nor is business always culpable.

But that wasn't Obama's point it was to push unionization and bigger government as the only bulwark against the supposed depredations of private business.

"Thanks to generations of union organizers and advocates, conditions slowly improved. But it was not until decades later that our laws assured the right to a safe workplace," he said, citing the Coal Mine act of 1969 and the establishment of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 1970.

"These statutes remain the cornerstone of our protections today, and my Administration remains committed to enforcing them by ensuring workers know their rights, worksites comply with the law, and wrongdoers are held accountable."

On the same day as his proclamation, Obama shifted funds from OSHA's educational outreach to promote whistle-blowing against business, for a 37% increase.

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